In the field of telecommunications, numerous customers are connected with the switch of a telecommunications company via telecommunications lines. The customers can also be called subscribers. The switch is also called an exchange.
Between the subscriber and the switch, sections of the telecommunications lines are connected with telecommunications modules. The telecommunications modules establish an electrical connection between a wire which is attached to the telecommunications module at a first side, and another wire which is attached to the telecommunications module at a second side. Plural telecommunications modules can be put together at a distribution point, such as a main distribution frame, an intermediate distribution frame, an outside cabinet or a distribution point located, for example, in an office building or on a particular floor of an office building. To allow flexible wiring, some telecommunications lines are connected with first telecommunications modules in a manner to constitute a permanent connection. Flexibility is realized by so-called jumpers, which flexibly connect contacts of the first telecommunications module with contacts of a second telecommunications module. These jumpers can be changed when a person moves within an office building to provide a different telephone (i.e. a different telephone line) with a certain telephone number, which the relocated person intends to keep.
Recently, ADSL-technology has spread widely in the field of telecommunications. This technology allows at least two different signals to be transmitted on a single line. This is achieved by transmitting the different signals at different frequencies along the same line. The signals are combined at a particular point in the telecommunications line and split at another point. In particular, at the subscriber side, voice and data signals, which are separate, are combined and sent to the central office via the same line. In the central office the combined signal is split. For the transmission of voice and data signals to the subscriber, separate voice and data signals are combined at the central office, sent to the subscriber and split at the subscriber side. After splitting the signal, the so-called POTS-signal (plain old telephone service) can be used to transmit voice signals. The remaining part of the split signal can be used to transmit data, for example. So-called splitters, which are used to split or combine the signal, can generally be arranged at any distribution point. In this context, a POTS wire or POTS jumper indicates a wire, which is connected with an exchange of the telecommunications company. Furthermore, a line connection indicates a wire, which leads to the subscriber or customer. Finally, as discussed in more detail below, a DSLAM-wire means a wire which is connected with a DSLAM and thus, can, for example, transmit data. A DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) processes the data signal.
WO 2002/076109 discloses a splitter being integrated in a main distribution frame. An integrated assembly comprises three arrays of contacts, a first array being connected with a line, a second array being connected with POTS and a third array being connected with a DSLAM. The contacts of the assembly are connected with splitter circuits to split a signal, which is transmitted by the line, into a POTS and a DSLAM signal. Whereas this known assembly provides increased versatility due to an additional array of contacts, this additional array of contacts might not be necessary in all cases so that the density, which is achieved by the known assembly, can be improved.